The St Ives area was first explored by Governor Arthur Phillip and a party of men in 1788 where they set up a campsite at Bungaroo which is close to what is now Hunter Avenue. The area produced a small scale timber felling industry. There are still some examples of the thirty metre and higher trees in nearby Pymble in the Dalrymple Hay forest and near Canisius College. Native turpentine trees were also once abundant and provided useful timber for cabinet making. It was once known for its apple orchards but due to residential demand, there is no longer any commercial fruit growing in the area. During the Second World War there were significant numbers of troops barracked in the area, which provided the impetus to build Archbold Road as a supplementary and emergency route to the city. Since 1950 the suburb has expanded from the central shopping areas and the arterial main roads to include hilltop and valley areas bordering on the surrounding Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to the north, now the area known as St Ives Chase, and Garigal National Park to the east and the south east. St Ives Post Office opened on 10 November 1885 and the first public school opened on 6 May 1889. The school was formally opened by Mr. J. P. Burns, M.L.A. on Saturday 8 June. After inspecting the "neat and well-designed school and teacher's residence" the party had a luncheon to mark the occasion. St Ives was initially slow to develop due to the perceived remoteness from the city. Settlement increased in the late 1890s, when St Ives was populated by market gardeners, a small dairy, orchard workers and related industries. The suburb since the end of the Second World War has seen its most rapid period of expansion and a steady growth in families moving to the area.
Commercial area
is a medium-sized shopping centre opened in the 1960s. The centre has over 110 stores, its main tenants are Harris Farm Markets, Coles Supermarkets|Coles and Woolworths. Village Green is a popular park in St Ives. Village Green is directly opposite of St Ives Shopping Village. The park is bordered on three streets, Memorial Avenue, Village Green Parade and Cowan Road. The park includes sporting fields, baseball fields, tennis courts and a skate park.
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden is located on the north side of Mona Vale Road. It includes a visitors centre, a Senses Track and extensive walking tracks.
Population
At the 2016 census, St Ives recorded a population of 17,300. Of these:
The median age was 42 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.7% of the population.
51.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were South Africa 8.6%, China 7.1%, England 6.3%, Hong Kong 2.0% and New Zealand 2.0%.
69.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 8.7%, Cantonese 3.7%, Korean 2.4%, Persian 1.7% and Spanish 0.9%.
The most common responses for religion were No Religion 28.6%, Anglican 17.6%, Catholic 17.3% and Judaism 9.7%.
82.9% of households were family households and 16.2% were single person households.
Of occupied private dwellings in St Ives, 70.1% were separate houses, 20.2% were flats or apartments and 9.5% were semi-detached.
